Desaraju Surya
Kadapa: It is “Political Baptism” by fire for the progeny of the top bosses of political parties in Andhra Pradesh. While two ‘sons’ have jumped directly into the electoral battlefield, one has worked behind the scenes to shape the course of his father’s party. Yet another has tried to do his bit in support of his father, who incidentally is seeking to make a mark in the political arena. Some of them will eventually step into their fathers’ shoes and carry on their political legacy, of course, only if the people and the respective parties fully support them. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Jaganmohan Reddy is seeking election to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Kadapa constituency. Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s son K T Rama Rao is fighting the state Assembly polls from Sircilla segment in Karimnagar district. Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi’s son Ramcharan Tej is busy building his career as a young film hero. He has taken time off from his latest film shooting schedule to propagate the PRP’s election symbol rail engine. Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu’s son N Lokesh Babu is looking after their family’s Heritage Foods business. He, however, remained behind the scenes to draft the TDP’s election manifesto for this election and worked extensively on schemes like Cash Transfer and Youth Empowerment aimed at economically empowering the youth and the poor. Jagan has never been active in politics so far and confined himself mostly to his business ventures. This time, however, he chose to carry on his father’s legacy and jumped into the electoral battle from Kadapa. “My father has done a lot for the state. Hence I want him to see as the Chief Minister once again,” Jagan says. Rama Rao quit his high-profile job as the south-Asia operations head of a software firm and support his father in the quest for securing statehood for Telangana. Since late 2006, Rama Rao has been playing an active role in the Telangana Rashtra Samiti affairs and found it an opportune time to try his political fortunes in this election. Having returned from the US after obtaining a master’s degree in Business Administration, Nara Lokesh Naidu focused on his family business. For the past two months, Lokesh became part of the TDP’s “think tank” to draft its election manifesto. He is the brain behind the TDP’s Cash Transfer Scheme and also Youth Empowerment Scheme that are expected to be the vote-spinners for the party. “We worked for more than 1000 hours on each scheme to make them really effective. These schemes were not drafted for any short-term gains but have been designed in such a way that they give long-term benefits to the youth and the economically weaker sections,” Lokesh emphasizes. On his political plans, Chandrababu’s son asserts: “I am working for the party. I am not trying to create an individual identity for myself.” He ruled out the possibility of taking a political plunge in the immediate future. Chiranjeevi’s son Ramcharan Tej, who is just about 20-year-old, too asserts that he is not into serious politics. “I am only supporting my father in a small way that I could. He is the sole leader and he can carry on by himself,” Charan said. Charan has so far acted in only one film Chiruta, a runaway hit, and is currently shooting for his second movie Magadheera. Chiranjeevi himself is not interested to bring his son into politics at this stage as the filmy career is of primary importance to them.
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